From 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2025 FORUM will participate in the implementation of a two-year European project LITI-GATE – Strategic Litigation as a Gateway to address the rights of Persons with Disabilities in the European Union which brings together 6 partners from 5 countries.
Background and rationale
Although the rights of persons with disabilities are central in the EU legal system and central to EU policies, their practical application remains limited. For example, in 2020, national courts made 72 referrals to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter), with only 2 focusing on the rights of persons with disabilities. This is concerning, as persons with disabilities are overrepresented in court proceedings as victims or perpetrators (FRA, Fundamental Rights Report, 2021). Due to their vulnerability, they are more likely to have their rights breached, and issues concerning their human rights are cross-cutting, being thus covered, at least theoretically, by many of the Charter Articles. The assumption from which this project stems is that a lack of knowledge and training among judicial practitioners on the Charter is one of the key causes limiting its use.
Project objectives
With LITI-GATE we aim to promote the enforcement of the Charter through strategic litigation activities to address breaches of the fundamental rights of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities across the European Union and to ensure that their rights are mainstreamed both at the European Union level as well as at the level of the Member States.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- improve knowledge on how to conduct strategic litigation for the benefit of persons with disabilities;
- develop practical guidance on how to use the Charter for strategic litigation;
- build capacity of national and regional stakeholders on how to conduct strategic litigation;
- strengthen cooperation between national and regional organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), victim support organisations, and relevant EU networks to enforce the Charter for persons with disabilities victims of fundamental rights breaches.
Project activities
This will be accomplished through the combined implementation, with the participation of persons with intellectual and/ or psychosocial disabilities, of activities to:
- Research on how to conduct strategic litigation at the national level, including mapping relevant mechanisms, assessing the national legal framework, and exploring the possibility of using the Charter to protect the rights of persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
- Development of a Strategic Litigation Guidebook based on EU and national laws, incorporating best practices in strategic litigation, as well as identifying pitfalls and solutions for enhancing the application of the Charter for the benefit of persons with disabilities.
- Designing and executing training sessions for key stakeholders—including lawyers, persons with disabilities, representatives from organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), service providers, and members of local NGOs—aimed at strengthening the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.
- Enhancing multistakeholder collaboration by facilitating the exchange of best practices. This includes organising webinars and training sessions at the European level, as well as conducting working sessions at the national level. These efforts aim to align project outcomes with the needs of local persons with disabilities, ensuring their active participation and ownership of the project results.
- Implementation of communication and dissemination activities to ensure that relevant national stakeholders can efficiently utilise the project deliverables and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities within their jurisdictions.
Easy-to-read documents
As part of the project, we have developed 3 “easy-to-read” guidebooks focused on strategic litigation under EU and national laws. The guidebooks provide best practices, highlight potential risks, and offer solutions to enhance the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities. The guidebooks are available for download in both Czech and Slovak.
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Our project partners
- Victim Support Europe (Belgium) – project coordinator
- Validity Foundation (Hungary)
- Kera Foundation (Bulgaria)
- Fundatia Centrul de Resurse Juridice (Romania)
- European Network on Independent Living Brussels Office (Belgium)
Full name of the project
Strategic Litigation as a Gateway to address the rights of Persons with Disabilities in the European Union (101084868 – LITI-GATE- CERV-2022-CHAR)
This project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.